"Look! It's that famous pianist! The one who won the prestigious Young Pianist of the Year award!"
"Waahh... he's going to study in this school?!"
Hushed whispers and comments tickled their ears. It was early January, Yuuichi and Rinichi had just started their middle school life in Akiyama Middle School. As expected, the atmosphere felt totally different from elementary school with older seniors, together with greater freedom in curriculum but stricter discipline. They were just walking through the courtyard and heading to the main lobby, but already, people were staring intently at Yuuichi.
Wow, Rinichi thought. Yuu is *that* famous!
Ugh, can they just shut up already? Yuuichi frowned and narrowed his eyes. He had never felt so uncomfortable before.
"Yuu, I hope we can be in the same class this year..." she wished, clasping her hands together while walking.
"Me too," he replied, accelerating towards the bulletin board which held all the first-years' class lists.
And as expected, there was a huge crowd of first-years gathering in front of the lists, either happy or disappointed or neutral with their class allocation. Both of them pushed their way through, muttering "sorry" a number of times. Soon, they got to the very front and started nervously sorting through the dense forest of names for their very own one.
After fifteen seconds, they found their names and heaved a sigh of relief at the same time. Rinichi chuckled. "1A1, right? I saw your name too! YES!" She almost screamed. Yuuichi quickly grabbed her hand and ran away from the crowd.
"Don't scream!" He scolded, before breaking into a neutral smile, "Yeah, we're in the same class!"
"Yes! Another two years of being in the same class! This adds to our six years of having been in the same class in elementary school..."
*****
Kagari pushed the pin into a piece of hand-drawn flyer and then into the hard but semi-permeable surface of the school's notice board, located near the first-years' classrooms. The flyer read:
Violin Competition
Looking for PIANO accompanist! (I will be playing the violin)
Piece: Chopin Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23
Please contact Toragi Kagari, class 2A2, by this Thursday! Thank you very much!
She stepped back, looking at her flyer. It was quite small in contrast to the other bigger, eye-catching club recruitment posters. Her minuscule flyer seemed like a fish out of water. "Seriously," she groaned, "Even if they aren't Arts students, they're pretty good at designing posters!"
Sekiya adjusted his spectacles. "Well, some students who are actually good in art joined the Normal stream instead. Perhaps they're just scared of being looked down on. And I hate that." Then he looked at the violin and piano which he had drawn on the flyer. "But I'm sure it'll attract someone's eyes. You know," he then suddenly switched to whispering, "Being in the student council, I overheard that a famous piano prodigy is coming to our school this year. So, maybe he'll take up the job?"
"Maybe," Kagari repeated sadly. "At the very least, I'll get disqualified. It's not like I'm enthusiastic about this anyway..."
"You musn't say that! You love playing the violin, don't you?" Sekiya protested, looking at Kagari's violin case behind her. She nodded slightly, looking away sheepishly. "Then don't give up!"
"But--- Gah! Damn it, I won't argue with you!" She twirled around in a huff then walked in the other direction, her violin case ever swaying so slightly. "Today they're selling baked potatoes! I can finally eat those delicious potatoes after three months of no school..."
~End of Chapter #2~
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